It’s been almost 10 years since the last time we saw Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant. Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, director Gavin O’Connor helms this sequel, with Bill Dubuque returning as writer. The Accountant 2 brings us back to Solomon Grundy, quoting a forensic accountant who just so happens to know how to fight really, really well.
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) has a talent for solving complex problems, which makes him the last hope for Ray King, an old acquaintance looking for a missing family. But when another murderer leaves behind a cryptic message to “find the accountant,” Wolff doesn’t really have a choice. His search for answers winds up uncovering an international danger. To get through it, Chris recruits his estranged brother, Brax (Jon Bernthal), to help. The duo works with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and winds up finding themselves right in the crosshairs of a network of killers.
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The Accountant 2 is a much more self-aware film than the first when it comes to discussing autism. While it still deals with the trope that autism is a superpower, the film also treats Chris as more than his neurodivergence. Chris wants to date and get close to his brother. His autism is never treated like something that others him, so much as it’s just how he moves through the world. O’Connor and Dubuque are much more considerate of its representation on screen. The representations of Chris and his relationships feel empathetic and less like a gimmick than Affleck’s first production.
On the whole, though, The Accountant 2 is an action film that captures the eccentricities of a Mexican novella, the gunplay of a John Wick film, and the humor of a buddy comedy. This is not a complex film, but the way that O’Connor and Dubuque have executed his concept has to be applauded, especially when you take a step back and see how well The Accountant 2 swings for the fences and doesn’t really care how far the ball lands.
Jon Bernthal and Ben Affleck are the perfect pair in The Accountant 2.
What really makes The Accountant 2 thrive, however, is how perfect Jon Bernthal and Ben Affleck are as a pair. They’re believable as brothers because of how effortless every exchange is. Sure, their idiosyncracies feel cut from the same cloth, but it’s how fiercely Braxton loves his big brother that allows him to poke fun, defend, fight with, and ultimately open up to Chris.
That’s the core of this film, and while I wish that the scenes’ climactic final fight sequences weren’t where all of the action was held, I would watch The Accountant 2 again and again just to see Bernthal and Affleck together. The charm that this film exudes makes up for any eyeroll-inducing choices, and a lot of that is thanks to its comedy. The duo is fantastic in a Los Angeles honky-tonk, sitting in lawn chairs on Chris’ Airstream and ripping through bad guys.
Their charisma together makes this film succeed even in moments when it starts to waver. For his part as Chris, Affleck stretches his comedic muscles and pulls off a character that you can’t help but fall in love with. From speed dating to two-stepping and telling Braxton that he should get a cat and not a dog, it all works. Bernthal does the same, and his stubborn streak makes their brotherhood work.
While they’re the only two really fleshed out, leaving Daniella Pineda’s mysterious assassin and Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Agent Marybeth Medina or even Ray King (J.K. Simmons), I have so many more questions. Ultimately, though, the movie isn’t about them. And with Chris and Braxton’s dominance in the narrative, it’s hard to crave anyone else.
For as good as its action is, The Accountant 2 is light on actual fight sequences; however, when they do happen, they’re well choreographed and use each situation to the fullest. The integration of the larger sets where the fights take place is so well done that it just makes me question why there wasn’t more.
With one of my favorite opening sequences of the festival, The Accountant 2 shows that sometimes waiting isn’t bad. This leads to a more mature film that doesn’t distance itself from the concept that has been raked over the coals.
Instead, it’s looking to learn from the past and step into the future, and ultimately, it’s a reflection of the action mid-budget movie we have been missing. The Accountant 2 lives in the same space as Face/Off and the other action films of the 90s. And I mean that as a compliment. I’ll take three more if only we can get more action.
The Accountant 2 screened as a part of SXSW 2025.
The Accountant 2
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Rating - 8/108/10
TL;DR
The Accountant 2 shows that sometimes waiting isn’t bad. Here, it led to a more mature film and one that doesn’t distance itself from the concept that has been raked over the coals.
